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Monday, January 28, 2013

This is my spin on the Vintage Modern Jamie Shift Dress for the "BurdaStyle Sewing Vintage Modern Contest 2013".

I started by ordering the book from Amazon. I was so excited to get started as all the patterns look amazing and not that difficult. There are so many projects I am going to make from this book. I think I can use a lot of my stash for most of them.

I put together a bit of a story board on pinterest to get some inspiration and in doing so I now have a love for shift dresses and cant wait to get started on the next one. I have a great fabric which is perfect for it that I picked up from Tessuti Fabrics a few months ago called Stainglass Garden. It has a real sixties vibe to it.

Stainglass Garden Farbic from Tessuti

I decided on adding a yoke and deleting the front darts. I found a lace collar in my stash which suited the style.
This dress was supposed to be the toile but I decided as I was sewing that the fabric was too cute for a toile and hoped that the fit would be ok. It turned out that I just needed to add some darts in the back and alter the armholes as they were very small.

The only real challenge with this dress was finishing the seams which has nothing to do with the pattern just my overlocker which has a mind of it's own. A beast.
It was working beautifully for months with a perfect tension and then I changed the colour of thread to black to finish this dress. What a stupid idea! I spent at least one hour threading it!! AGGGHH!! Now, I can't get the tension right. It's a bit loose on the lower threads. If anybody has ideas or tricks on how to get the perfect tension please share :)

Anyway, I decided to enter this one in the competition and if I get time to make up another one in the "real" fabric I will enter that also.

What I love the most about this dress is that's it's really comfy to wear and can be worn with or without a belt, although adding the belt makes it a bit short! Nothing a leggin cant fix.

Can't wait to get started on the next one.

Update as of 19th of February. I have been chosen as a finalist. If you are a Burdastyle member please cast yourvote here

Sunday, January 6, 2013

We spent the New Year at Flinders on the Mornington Peninsula with our friends. The boys were so excited to be seeing there special friend Mischa. I have given Mischa a few home sewn projects in the past and she has absolutely loved them. When someone get so much joy it's not hard to whip something up again.

I have so much girly stuff in my stash (I must have secretly wanted a girl I think) so I decided on making something for Mischa the day before we left. The boys thought it was pretty funny when I used them as models for a fitting.

I used the Japanese pattern book Happy Homemade Kids which you can pick up from Tessuti or Amazon. I have always loved having these books on my shelf and flicking through them but have never used them. I was surprised at how easy most of the patterns are. I decided on the ruffle dress which has a ribbon inserted through casing to create the shoulder straps and is tied in a bow at the back.

I also decided to add a little personal touch with a homemade decorative ribbon and tassel. I got the idea from the Burda magazine 3/2012 top 136 A.

To make the decorative ribbon make a 5cm long tassel from embroidery floss. Cut a piece of embroidery floss, 30cm long to string the beads. Knot this to the tassel so that the ends hang evenly. String beads onto the doubled length of floss. Lay ribbon in a bow. Lay ends of embroidery floss around centre of bow and knot. Sew button to centre of bow. Sew on pin bow in place.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

I made this skirt a few months ago for my partners dads' wife or sort of my mother in law except we are not married. Not easy to explain is it?
Anyway, I made it for a friend, Sonia.

Sonia really loved the tutti frutti skirt I made last year for a friends little girl and wanted a grown up version. Sonia used to be a dancer and was really keen on having a ballerina skirt for herself.
I was a bit worried a tutu might look a bit "meringuish" so decided on just two layers of tulle and an underskirt.

She didn't want the gathering to start from the waist as she was worried it would make her look a bit on the frumpy side. Mind you she has nothing to worry about.
Keeping that in mind I decided to use Vogue pattern V8295 version E which has a yoke and flares from the hip. I self drafted the lining.

I decided on using Ponti for the yoke from my ever faithful Tessuti Fabric store as it is easy to work with and is very flattering on the body. It also means no zip required, woo hoo!!
I lined it in a single knit and used one layer of black bridal tulle and one layer of the flocked tulle.

Ok, I had to have one crazy shot!

The skirt turned out great and looks fab on. I had to get a few shots before handing it over as her Birthday present. I have worn it in these pics in a vintage style. It is such a versatile piece. I think it would look fantastic with heels and a corset.

About Me

Mummy to two super active boys and partner to one very creative man who happens to be a dead ringer for Ben Stiller! He is also responsible for the great photography. Like many women about my age, my mum taught me how to sew at about twelve. She used to make all of my clothes as well as my six other siblings. My first job was at a fabric shop in my little hometown in Tasmania but I got itchy feet and moved to Canada for a while where I also happened to study Fashion Arts. I eventually came back home to Australia and settled down in Melbourne and I'm glad I did. It is an amazing City to live in for style and inspiration. I love fabrics and creating and I want to continue learning especially the techniques of couture. This is a folio of stuff I've stitched up lately